The Big Bang could have brought the universe into existence whether or not God exists, researchers said at the recent SETICon 2 conference. "The Big Bang could've occurred as a result of just the laws of physics being there," said one astrophysicist. "With the laws of physics, you can get universes." That means, basically, that something could have come from nothing, Space.com notes—and though it may not make sense to us instinctually, our instincts weren't designed to understand astrophysics and quantum mechanics—in which random fluctuations can indeed produce something (energy, matter) out of nothing.
"Quantum mechanical fluctuations can produce the cosmos," added an astronomer. "If you would just, in this room, just twist time and space the right way, you might create an entirely new universe. It's not clear you could get into that universe, but you would create it. So it could be that this universe is merely the science fair project of a kid in another universe. I don't know how that affects your theological leanings, but it is something to consider." The astrophysicist added that just because the Big Bang could have occurred without God does not mean God doesn't exist: "I don't think you can use science to either prove or disprove the existence of God." (More Big Bang stories.)